Pricing Coins From the 16th Century and Before

[gmarguli]

How do people price coins from the 16th century and before? The Krause catalogs only go back to the 17th century.

 

Many of these coins aren't of high value, so auction records wouldn't work.

 

Any ideas?

[JamminJ]

Hi Greg,

 

I have run into the same problem as you.

 

Davenport is considered the standard for Europe, but he covers mostly large silver coins. Three of interest might be:

 

European Crowns, 1484-1600

SIlver Gulden, 1559-1763

German Thalers, 1500-1600

 

I don't own any of these (yet), but if you come across them they should be worth a browse. For minor coinage we seem to be limited to specialized works in various regions of the world, for instance The Silver Coins of Medieval France by James Roberts which covers AD 476-1610. Seems expensive to gather a full set this way, and it would be out of date by the time you're done!

 

I'm going to order Frey and Cervin's The Dated European Coinage Prior to 1501 this week and I'll let you know how this works out.

 

Still uncovered by any of my catalogs is the 16th century. It would sure be nice if Krause went back one more century. If you uncover any good works please let me know!

 

-JamminJ

[truthteller]

Don't forget Seaby for British and early UK coinage. They give high retail values for most major varieties from 800 AD on to 1700's. Grading is very subjective though. Most early hammered coins look VG but grade a bit higher, while most post 1500's coins look XF, but grade a bit lower.

 

 

TRUTH

[GDJMSP]

You could always try - Gold Coins of the World - From Ancient Times To The Present by Arthur L. & Ira S. Friedberg.

 

The 7th edition was printed in 2003 and covers all gold coins back to & including coins from 400 BC. Now this offers no help for silver coins - but it is a start.

 

Values listed in the book tend to be a bit high for the coins I am familiar with - but then most catalogues are.

[gmarguli]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll start ordering some books as soon as I figure out what I want to collect.